美国国家公共电台 NPR--As primaries wind down, there are some hints about what's in store for midterms

As primaries wind down, there are some hints about what's in store for midterms

Transcript¹

There are primary elections Tuesday in Florida and New York. A special congressional election in New York could be a fresh indicator² of which way the fall midterm elections are headed.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

A special election for the House may give us clues to what's coming this fall.

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

You may know, the closely divided House and Senate are at stake. Republicans are favored to gain, as the party out of power often does. But they are feeling a little bit less optimistic these days. Last week, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell acknowledged what the experts say - it's getting harder to see how his party captures the Senate. It's a little hard to hear this, but listen closely to this clip.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

MITCH MCCONNELL: There's probably a greater likelihood the House flips³ than the Senate. Senate races are just different. They're statewide. Candidate quality has a lot to do with the outcome.

MARTIN: He said candidate quality. Republicans have been struggling in states like Pennsylvania and Georgia.

INSKEEP: Where their nominees⁴ have been much criticized. McConnell also said Republicans have a better chance to win the House. And that special election in New York state this week gives us more information. NPR senior political editor and correspondent Domenico Montanaro is here.

Domenico, good morning.

DOMENICO MONTANARO, BYLINE⁵: Hey there, Steve.

INSKEEP: OK. Just to be clear, not a primary, although we have some more primaries coming up this week. This is not a primary. It's an open seat. It gets decided⁶. It's the final final in New York State, outside of New York City, in the Hudson Valley, the Catskills, rural areas, in some urban areas. What should we know about it?

MONTANARO: Well, this is a race between Democrat⁷ Pat Ryan and Republican Marc Molinaro, both local county executives. It's to fill out a term for Anthony (ph) Delgado, who left Congress to become lieutenant⁸ governor of the state. It's a measure, really, of which party has the enthusiasm right now in a fairly even-divided district. You know, Trump⁹ won it in 2016. Biden won it in 2020.

And I often like to look at candidates' ads to see what they're focusing on. These give you a pretty good idea. First, here's an ad from Ryan, who's an Army veteran.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: He fought for our families, for our freedom.

PAT RYAN: And freedom includes a woman's right to choose. How can we be a free country if the government tries to control women's bodies?

MONTANARO: Meanwhile, Molinaro is focusing on something entirely¹⁰ different.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Sky-high gas prices...

(SOUNDBITE OF PERSON YELLING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: ...Rising crime...

(SOUNDBITE OF PERSON YELLING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: ...Runaway¹¹ inflation...

(SOUNDBITE OF PERSON YELLING)

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: ...Joe Biden and Nancy Pelosi are to blame.

MONTANARO: So very dramatic there. But you can hear how this has become a proxy¹² fight in the messaging wars on abortion¹³ rights versus¹⁴ inflation, the two big issues that both parties really want to focus on nationally.

INSKEEP: Well, how big an indicator could a special election like this be?

MONTANARO: Well, you never want to overread special elections, but they have been indicators¹⁵ in recent years of which party is most fired-up and which way elections that are upcoming are headed. You know, Republicans did well in special elections earlier this cycle, but after the Supreme¹⁶ Court overturned Roe¹⁷, Democrats¹⁸ have overperformed in places like Minnesota and Nebraska. And Democrats are looking to build on their momentum¹⁹ after a big win in Kansas on an abortion-related ballot²⁰ measure.

INSKEEP: With all that said, we should be clear. Republicans still have a good chance to win a lot of seats this fall, and we'll see how things turn out. But they've had some difficulty recently. So what is Donald Trump saying about this, particularly given that so many Republican candidates have pledged fealty²¹ to him?

MONTANARO: Well, we heard that clip from McConnell. And Trump unloaded on McConnell on his social media platform. Trump called him a broken-down hack²² and criticized McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, who you might remember was Trump's transportation secretary and resigned over his conduct during the January 6 insurrection. And he said that he thought McConnell should spend more time and money helping²³ Republican Senate candidates get elected. Ironically, though, it's McConnell's outside group that's tied to him, the Senate Leadership Fund, that's spending some quarter-billion dollars in these elections. And Trump is the one who's spending pretty much nothing to support them. And McConnell-backed aides really feel like Trump has handed them a slate²⁴ of candidates who are weaker, who they need to now try to push over the finish line.

INSKEEP: NPR's Domenico Montanaro. Thanks.

MONTANARO: You're welcome.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 indicator   

n.指标；指示物，指示者；指示器

参考例句：

• Gold prices are often seen as an indicator of inflation.黃金价格常常被看作是通货膨胀的指标。
• His left-hand indicator is flashing.他左手边的转向灯正在闪亮。

3 flips   

轻弹( flip的第三人称单数 )； 按（开关）； 快速翻转； 急挥

参考例句：

• Larry flips on the TV while he is on vacation in Budapest. 赖瑞在布达佩斯渡假时，打开电视收看节目。
• He flips through a book before making a decision. 他在决定买下一本书前总要先草草翻阅一下。

4 nominees   

n.被提名者，被任命者( nominee的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• She's one of the nominees. 她是被提名者之一。 来自超越目标英语 第2册
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 democrat   

n.民主主义者，民主人士；民主党党员

参考例句：

• The Democrat and the Public criticized each other.民主党人和共和党人互相攻击。
• About two years later,he was defeated by Democrat Jimmy Carter.大约两年后，他被民主党人杰米卡特击败。

8 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

9 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

10 entirely   

ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The fire was entirely caused by their neglect of duty. 那场火灾完全是由于他们失职而引起的。
• His life was entirely given up to the educational work. 他的一生统统献给了教育工作。

11 runaway   

n.逃走的人，逃亡，亡命者；adj.逃亡的，逃走的

参考例句：

• The police have not found the runaway to date.警察迄今没抓到逃犯。
• He was praised for bringing up the runaway horse.他勒住了脱缰之马受到了表扬。

12 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

13 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

14 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

15 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

16 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

17 roe   

n.鱼卵；獐鹿

参考例句：

• We will serve smoked cod's roe at the dinner.宴会上我们将上一道熏鳕鱼子。
• I'll scramble some eggs with roe?我用鱼籽炒几个鸡蛋好吗？

18 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

20 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

21 fealty   

n.忠贞，忠节

参考例句：

• He swore fealty to the king.他宣誓效忠国王。
• If you are fealty and virtuous,then I would like to meet you.如果你孝顺善良，我很愿意认识你。

22 hack   

n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳

参考例句：

• He made a hack at the log.他朝圆木上砍了一下。
• Early settlers had to hack out a clearing in the forest where they could grow crops.早期移民不得不在森林里劈出空地种庄稼。

23 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

24 slate   

n.板岩，石板，石片，石板色，候选人名单；adj.暗蓝灰色的，含板岩的；vt.用石板覆盖，痛打，提名，预订

参考例句：

• The nominating committee laid its slate before the board.提名委员会把候选人名单提交全体委员会讨论。
• What kind of job uses stained wood and slate? 什么工作会接触木头污浊和石板呢？